For those of you keeping score at home, US cyclists are tearing up the early stages of the Dauphiné Libéré that's happening through Sunday this week in France.
On Sunday, Astana's Levi Leipheimer beat the field to win the prologue into Avignon. He previously wore the yellow jersey this year as winner of the Tour of California.
On Tuesday, High Road's George Hincapie won Stage 2 in Vienne by launching an attack about a kilometer from the finish. The strong rider held off the field, avoiding a mass sprint at the finish.
Hincapie's previous win this year for the US-based team came in Stage 6 at the Tour of California.
The Dauphiné Libéré is generally considered a warm-up for the Tour de France. That may be the case for most of the peloton, but riders like Leipheimer and American Chris Horner ride for Astana, which has been banned from this year's tour.
Overall, Norwegian cyclist Thor Hushovd of Crédit Agricole is leading by one second over Spain's Alejandro Valverde of Caisse d'Epargne.
Leipheimer sits in third place, five seconds behind, and Hincapie is in fourth, 13 seconds behind.
An individual time trial is scheduled for Stage 3 on Wednesday, and climbing starts with Stage 4 on Thursday. This year could be interesting for Leipheimer, who won the week-long race in 2006 for Gerolsteiner.
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